Family History
by Frodolives14
Summary: My idea of how Sam and Rosie might have met. . Story details are book-based, physical descriptions are movie-based. As usual, corrections of details and constructive criticism are welcome. Thanks and enjoy!


Family History by Frodolives14  
  
Disclaimer: Not mine, never will be.  
  
Summary: My idea of how Sam and Rosie might have met. Story details are book-based, physical descriptions are movie-based. As usual, corrections of details and constructive criticism are welcome. Thanks and enjoy!  
  
My name is Rose Cotton, but everybody calls me Rosie. I come from a family of farmers - simple folk, taking great pride in their work and enjoying a deep love of and respect for the land that gives us so much. For as long as I can remember, my father, and my brothers when they became old enough, have been getting up at sunrise and working in the fields almost until sundown nearly every day of the year. They come in smelling of wheat, and fertilizer, and clean air, and good earth, stamping the dirt off their boots before coming in to kiss my mother. She works just as hard as they, milking and feeding the cows, grinding the wheat for flour, and working in the flower garden she keeps in our front yard. It is a challenging, satisfying life, one that I think gives a hobbit character and strength. So, when I first met Samwise Gamgee, whose family were gardeners, I knew we had a lot in common.  
  
From the time I was old enough to walk and talk, I had longingly watched my older brothers Tom and Jolly as they went out to play in the meadow near the creek (which they did nearly every day before they were old enough to help Dad in the fields). Not satisfied to spend my days following my mother around as she did the daily chores around the house, I constantly attempted to find ways to escape and follow them, which my mother always managed to thwart, much to my dismay. Finally, one day when I was 4 years old, my mother finally agreed to let me go out with my brothers. I was absolutely delighted; my brothers, less so. They didn't want a girl holding them up. In fact, they warned me that if I slowed them down or interrupted them at all, they would bring me to the middle of the forest and leave me there overnight - a prospect that terrified me, as I knew there were wolves in the woods. But I was determined to go along, and find out just what they did all day.  
  
Strapping Mom's lovingly prepared packs to our backs (I was forced to use an old one of Dad's, since I didn't have one of my own yet) and kissing her goodbye, we set out in the cool of early morning. As we went down the road, I found myself running to keep up with my longer-legged brothers, and I was soon gasping from an ache in my side. However, their threat still rang in my mind, and I held my tongue and continued puffing along after them.  
  
Finally, just when I thought my lungs would burst and my legs give out, we reached the edge of a field, and my brothers slowed down. "Where is he?" Tom asked. "I don't know," Jolly replied, and called out, "Oy, Sam, where are you?" I had no idea who they were talking about, and was about to risk asking the question, when an answering call was heard. "I'm over here, lads, by the creek!" With wide grins my brothers hurried through the tall grass of the field towards the small but lovely creek that ran through it, with me at their heels.  
  
And that's when I fist saw my Sam. He was sitting on a large rock on the creek bank, facing East, with the rays of the still-rising sun full on his sweet face. When he heard us getting closer, he jumped off the rock and ran up to my brothers. "Fine morning, isn't it?" He asked as he slowed to stand in front of them. My brothers nodded. Then he noticed me, and smiled, asking, "And who's this?" "Oh, that's just our sister Rosie. Mom made us bring her along. Don't worry though, she won't bother us," Tom said. "I don't." Sam started to say, but Jolly interrupted him, "Are we going to fish or not?" "Yeah!" Tom shouted, and they ran over to rock Sam had been sitting on. With a sympathetic look back at me - as if to say he was sorry for the way my brothers were treating me - Sam followed them.  
  
I watched from a few feet behind as the three boys grabbed fishing poles from behind the rock and hunted in the mud on the creek bank for worms. So this is what they do all day. They fish. Maybe they'll let me fish, too. "Hey, can I." "No!" Tom and Jolly said together, before I even finished, not even bothering to turn around and look at me. I glared at their backs, furious, almost in tears. Sam turned and gave me another comforting look. "You know, lads," he said, "She doesn't seem so bad. Why do you have to be so mean to her?" "Mean?" Jolly replied. "We're just making sure she doesn't spoil our fishing, is all. Now come on, we're wasting time." Sam was obviously upset at them, but kept silent.  
  
For the rest of the afternoon, the boys sat on the bank of the creek, alternately fishing and eating. I sat several feet away from them, with my back up against the big rock, trying to stay as quiet as I could. Every so often, Sam would flash me a smile or a wink, to make sure I was alright and let me know I hadn't been forgotten. His quiet kindness, and the knowledge that he was thinking of me, helped me survive that long day. Finally, the sun began to dip behind the trees, and Tom said, "Well, one more cast and then I think we should go." "Yeah, I guess you're right," Jolly answered, and they cast their fishing lines in together. Sam threw his in, a little further out than theirs. Suddenly, his pole dipped down, and he gasped in surprise. "I've got something, I've got something!" He cried, as he pulled the pole in closer to him. As it got closer, something could be seen moving on the other end. Finally, he pulled the line out of the water, with a large fish dripping and wriggling at the end of it. "Will you look at that!" Jolly exclaimed. "It's the biggest fish I've ever seen!" Tom added, wide-eyed. Sam didn't need to say anything; his beaming smile spoke for him.  
  
Walking home a little while later, Sam fell back behind my brothers to walk next to me. "Why do you let them treat you like that, Rosie?" He asked gently. I looked up at him, a little surprised by the directness of his question, and answered simply, "I wanted to know what they do all day, and they said that if I messed anything up they'd leave me in the forest overnight!" Sam's face reddened in anger, and he called forward to my brothers, who were arguing amongst themselves at something and hadn't even noticed he was now behind them.  
  
"Oy! Tom! Jolly! Hold up a minute!" They spun around in surprise. "What?" Tom asked. "I'll tell you what," Sam answered, his eyes smoldering and his voice low and dangerous. "Rosie said you threatened to leave her in the forest overnight." "So?" Tom barked back, rolling his eyes; but they both looked nervous. Even I was caught off-guard by this sudden, unexpected outburst from the hobbit who had been so quiet and even-tempered all day. "So," Sam continued, barely containing his anger, "I've put up with you mistreating her all day, but this is the last straw. Apologize to her now, and never speak to her that way again, and I might consider keeping you as friends."  
  
The fistfight that followed is the stuff of Gamgee and Cotton family legend; hobbits from both families still tell the tale (and probably will for a long time to come): How Sam bested both my brothers, who had run home bloodied, bruised, and weeping; how all three boys had been forbidden to see each other for a full month afterward (they eventually forgave each other and remain close friends to this day); how old Gaffer Gamgee had given my mother Sam's fish as amends; how Sam and I became nearly inseparable. While I didn't understand it then, I now know that I fell in love with Sam Gamgee that first day I met him. 


End file.
